By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Veteran financier David Eldon, the only foreign national on President-elect Lee Myung-bak's transition committee, said Sunday that South Korea should take a more friendly attitude toward foreign investors to attract investment.
The Scottish-born financier who, in an unprecedented move, was appointed to a top advisory position, stressed that openness and transparency are key to helping the nation achieve its economic goals.
``What investors need is a place where they can do business openly and transparently. Evenly applied law and a level playing field are also important,'' Eldon, 62, told a press conference in Seoul.
``If Koreans want investment to come in, it has to come from within Korea. They have to improve the level of competition,'' said Eldon, co-chairman of the national competitiveness subcommittee of the transition team.
South Koreans showed a willingness to do so as they voted for Lee Myung-bak whose platform aims at revitalizing the economy, said the concurrent chairman of the Dubai International Financial Center Authority.
He cast a positive outlook for the Korean economy, saying ``I believe we can make some serious achievements.''
However, he said many investors are not certain about the factors required, including openness and transparency.
Asked about Lee's plan to make the reclaimed Saemangum land into an international financial hub, Eldon said the country can learn lessons from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
``The attraction for financial institutions has been related to issues of low taxation like zero taxation. It's also related to stable government and independent regulators in Dubai,'' he said. ``It (Dubai) has been successful because it's open, transparent and very committed to cover a number of sectors.''
Yet, he took a cautious approach to apply the same rules here, saying there are significant differences between Korea and the Middle East country.
``There are many countries with best practices in the world, which may be suitable for Korea. But we have to recognize Korea is unique. Therefore, it would be naive to believe some things will work for Korea if those worked for other countries,'' he said.
The financier also stressed that Dubai's success in building an international financial hub is attributable to independent regulators.
``I've always been puzzled over why Korea, which has the 13th largest economy and is an OECD country, doesn't reach the same level of other similar economies. Advanced countries with successful financial centers have single and independent regulator in common,'' he said.
Saying Korea has tremendous potential Eldon urged Korean organizations to be more international and attractive to the outside world.
He added that it is important to ensure investors that reasonable returns would be guaranteed to encourage them to invest more.
Eldon, with a 37-year working career at banking giant HSBC in the Middle East and Asia, became acquainted with President-elect Lee in 2002 when he served as chairman of the Seoul International Business Advisory Council and Lee became Seoul mayor, according to Lee's aides.
As part of efforts to revive the economy, Lee has promised to woo foreign investment through deregulation and more incentives.
ksy@koreatimes.co.kr
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